From Cave Prisoners to Future Educators: from an Ancient Text to New Interpretation. Decoding Thinking Processes through On-line Dialogue
Abstract. This article is based on thorough observation of forum discussions of an on-line course that took place during the 2013 academic year. The research observes the thinking processes of students when interpreting and providing augmented analogies for “The Allegory of the Cave” in Plato‟s Politeia (Republic). These processes are found to enable students: to reach insights concerning the characteristics of the optimal educator that are necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century; to develop a narrative through the appropriation the allegoric tale to create meaning associated with the modern education system and their own future professional role; and finally, to mediate through on-line discourse to bring about collaborative learning and constructivist dialogue within the axis of tension between the old and the new. In other words, learning within this framework appears to be a direct process of knowledge construction.
Research Background
As part of the “Introduction to the Philosophy of
Education” course, a virtual forum was set up to enable on-line dialogue with
the aim of sharing knowledge and insights (collaboration). A virtual “community
of learners” was formed (Pringle, 2002), and together they created layer upon
layer of new knowledge.
Levi (2006) defined the process as the creation of
a world of shared meaning, suitable for daily existence.
Contemporary research in the field of on-line
learning is concerned with a variety of means, including forums that enable
on-line communication and support collaborative discussion (Karacapilidis &
Papadias, 2001). It was found that a virtual environment is seen as less
“threatening” and “controlled by routine conventions” than face-to-face
discussion. Moreover, this environment seems to encourage constructivist
creation of knowledge through the creation of high level cognitive products.
Some scholars see student participation in on-line courses as the expression of
over-involvement and commitment in the context of the course contents (Dorman
& Fraser, 2009).
Online asynchronous discussions may create
opportunities for students to construct meaning together and to integrate new
knowledge into their prior experience. As shown in a recent study, the
effectiveness of a discussion forum in teaching and learning depends on several
factors, including the students‟ engagement, the quality of discussion, and the
interaction. Without the full involvement of students, however, the advantages
of the discussion forum will not be achieved (Durairaj & Umar, 2015).
According to Birenbaum (2002),
forums provide an advantageous environment for dialogue and discussion, an
environment that is appropriate to Socratic discourse. Tredway (1995) explained
that Socratic discourse is a discussion of moral ideas and dilemmas through
working on and analyzing certain texts. The quality of discourse depends on the
speakers‟ consideration for each other, and discussion components include: expression
of ideas, posing of questions, and expression of doubt. This leads to
understanding and learning of another “truth” or alternative knowledge.
Discourse of this kind leads the participants to: the creation of meaning, deep
thinking, doubt, and a new and different consideration of ideas. The results of
the discussion include the development of knowledge through cooperation as well
as the creation of ideas. In this way, the advantages of Socratic discourse
appear to be suitably illustrated in on-line forums.
Literature Review
Decoding and interpretation of texts through
dialogue has been the subject of consideration in various research studies: Tadmor (1997) defined
dialogical education as an influential, shaping event that occurs between
teacher and student who jointly foster a community of autonomous subjects,
equal in value, and liberated. The learners observe, think, and search for
meaning together, as they conduct discussions and communicate through
intellectual and emotional human contact.
The cultural-literacy model suggests that
individuals wishing to understand a text should have knowledge of the
background that influenced the author. Valsiner (2007) suggested that personal
systems of terminology develop from socio-cultural systems of meanings adapted
for the individual, allowing individuals to create meanings for their lives,
for their world, and for their connection with it. In other words, dealing with
texts supports the process of personal identity development.
Hirsch (1987) claimed that, for individuals to
understand written texts, they need to be familiar with the underlying core of
cultural knowledge: individuals who communicate with their peers in a
particular culture assume the existence of a common background and culture. As
this information is considered by authors to be „obvious‟, it is not included
in their texts. Thus, in order to understand and communicate in an effective
manner, the individual in any culture is required to share access to knowledge
and meanings that stem from that culture. Banks (2004) claimed that teachers
can help learners to develop their identities through identification with,
empathy with, and critical reading of the text; or through integration of the
contents with their own situation. Texts that represent the knowledge that
influences the cultural identity of learners can support the confirmation of
their cultural identities and thus encourage dialogue. Readers identify the
arguments that are meaningful for them in the text at the level of their
personal or professional identity, and locate themselves as allies or opponents
relative to the text.
Miller and Schulz (in press) pointed out that:
"students need the critical capacities necessary to engage with
sophisticated topic content and complex social and cultural practices” (as
cited in Miller, A., 2015, p. A23). Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd (2007, p. 266)
argued that “this means reading assessment tasks, topic readings, research
data, and lecture materials with a critical eye; it also means reading people
and social contexts with a critical eye. The capacity to read and unpack texts
to discover their many and varied meanings and strategies is referred to as
„critical literacy‟. Critical literacies go beyond literary criticism and
critical comprehension, to questions about how texts defend and/or disguise
positions of power, prejudice, exclusion, and vested interest” (cited in
Miller, A., 2015, p. A23). The Tasmanian Department of Education (2013)
suggested that, as a multi-literacies framework for university teaching
practices, critical literacy “shows us ways of looking at written, visual,
spoken, multimedia and performance texts to question and challenge the
attitudes, values and beliefs that lie beneath the surface” (cited in Miller,
A., 2015, p. A24). Miller (2015, p. A24) goes on to clarify that “critical
literacy is more than just reading texts closely; it has a socially critical
edge and involves complex interactions and social practices”, and Miller and
Schulz (in press) suggested that “
We are also expanding our understanding of „text‟ to
include the un-spoken, unwritten, and in-visible forms of communication
circulating at different levels (cited in Miller, A., 2015, p. A24).
Côté and Levine (2002), who designed a complex
understanding of identity in the Western world, claim that students‟ qualities
and virtues allow them to think about issues of identity through their
consideration of meanings in texts with cultural value. They note that humans
have a natural narcissistic tendency to focus on themselves and to see
themselves as the center of the world. Thus, it is important to develop a sense
of belonging to a moral code, to a society, to a culture and to a nation; and
if appropriate, to encourage students‟ ability to change and forgo their
preconceived personal, historical, cultural and social identities.
Content analysis of student
statements identified several categories of images and metaphors that
characterize the following subjects:
Figure 1 : Summary of
prominent images and metaphors derived from analysis of the propositional
content of the forum.
Research Design
The purpose of the present
research is to examine how the decoding of Plato‟s “Allegory of the Cave”
contributes to the construction of thinking processes amongst student-teachers,
at the inception of their career, through the acquisition of meanings, values,
perceptions, and modern ideals or analysis.
Research
Questions:
1.
How does the decoding of an ancient text
contribute to the construction of thinking processes amongst student-teachers?
2.
What are the thinking processes that occur in
the study and discussion of an analogical text?
Research
Methods:
•
Mixed methods research.
•
A combination of qualitative content analysis,
and quantitative analysis of the responses written in answer to the questions
posed in the course forum.
Research Procedure: Analysis of dialogue and examination of
the contribution of metaphors in consideration of the allegory along the axis
of time (from past to future), while also identifying the role of metaphors in
constructing the studentteachers‟ identities.
Research
Tools:
•
Presenting an open question on the on-line
forum.
•
Statistically analyzing the statements and
numerical mapping of the statistics in Atlas software.
•
Content analysis according to categories.
•
Use of models of thinking processes.
Research
Population:
A multicultural group of sixty-nine 1st
year students (a cross-stream course) of a B.Ed. course in Education and
Teaching at the Ohalo Academic College.
Hypothesis:
•
Learning the “Allegory of the Cave” contributes
to the development of critical, creative thinking.
•
The decoding of the text through the use of
augmented metaphors enables the clarification of professional attitudes and
moral perceptions in the teaching of future educators.
“The Allegory of the Cave”: a
trigger for thinking about past, present and future: Plato‟s “Allegory of the Cave” is recognized as a text that
inspires discourse and thinking in many fields of knowledge. Within the
framework of studies concerning the “principles of education according to the
great philosophers of ancient Greece”, this text was chosen as the first one to
be analyzed in the online forum. A Hebrew translation of the text was uploaded
to the on-line course site and the students were asked to read the text,
interpret it, link it to contemporary education, and to examine the extent of
its relevance in our postmodern era.
In order to motivate the process of on-line dialogue
in the spirit of the 21st century, the following question was asked:
„in your opinion, is the “Allegory of the Cave” still important in the modern
era or is it no longer relevant? Explain your opinion.”
This question, one of many to be presented on the
forum during the semester, received a lot of interest: the highest number of
reactions (46 responses), with a large gap between it and other questions
presented for debate. The discussion that arose amongst the students
illustrated reflective thinking about the question, and this process played an
important role in helping students to construct an optimal image of the 21st
century teacher within the teacher training process.
The dialogue that evolved, along with student
answers, exactly as written and word for word, served as units of content -
some of the analysis and meanings are presented in Figure 1 above. The insights
derived from the analysis of student statements were examined through
communication models, data processing and augmented allegories.
Following Fiske‟s (1990) semiotic model, we examined cultural influences on the deciphering of the text. According to Fiske, “decoding is a sort of recreation of the text” conducted against the background of the complex cultural baggage of the decoder. The method used to decode communication is derived from the data-processing procedure; it relates to both the acquisition of knowledge and the behavioral results that follow the processing of this new knowledge. This procedure provides standards that help to evaluate, process, and integrate the information received from the outside world with internal information.
Discussion and conclusions: from prisoners of
the past to future educators
Students gave original, innovative and modern
interpretations of the ancient Platonic text. They saw the “Allegory of the
Cave” as a textual “starting point” constituting a trigger for thinking from
which they marched towards the future in a quest for personal and professional
self-discovery; they also conducted a deep interpretation relating to the
education system. The metaphorical “cave” and the departure from it seemed to
them to represent a transition from the past to the future. Going out into the
light, the sun, and leaving the cave‟s darkness, symbolized the revelation of
knowledge and insight, as well as the use of knowledge to create new thinking,
alternative pedagogy, and teaching-learning “outside the box”.
Kozminski and Kalvier (2010) indicated that a stance
of inquiry can assist dialogue on teachers‟ professional identity. They cite
Cochrane-Smith and Lytle (1999), who suggest that, throughout their lives
teachers should act together as an investigative community, maintaining
continuous dialogue. This dialogue helps to construct local knowledge
concerning teaching, creating personal theories concerning practice, and
testing these theories in comparison with other research. Investigative
communities conduct both social and political activity, and raise questions
concerning teaching routines and ways in which knowledge is created and awarded
use and respect. An investigative stance allows critical discussion about
teachers‟ professional identity and the role of the teacher in bringing about
educational change, both as individuals and as a group, leading towards what
Stephen, Fraser and Marcia (1992) dub “identity achievement”.
To summarize, most students felt the “Allegory of
the Cave” to be a very meaningful text, even today. Most identified an analogy
in the allegory to the restrictions of the present day education system. They
identified with the need to be released from chains and fixation in their use
of teaching methods, and advocated an approach that encourages the use of novel
means and advanced technologies as part of the teaching process. The results of
the forum discussion include clear and sharp definitions of the “dos” and
“don‟ts”. The “don‟ts” include warnings
to teachers lest they remain fixated, chained in their way of thinking, imprisoning
their students and adhering to traditional and outdated teaching methods; in
other words, remaining in the dark obscurity of the cave.
On the other hand, the “dos” are more encouraging: innovation, consideration of student needs, propagation of values and adaptation to the changing reality of the post-modern era; progress and development of principles and new directions of thinking while promoting creativity and curiosity; development and implementation of new teaching methods (especially dominant in the online discourse) while demonstrating ability to create interest and to be open to new technologies and sophisticated, adapted teaching means. It is interesting to discern that the teacher-student interface was perceived as a challenging, complex space that facilitates meaningful learning through metaphorical thinking that motivates thinking, dialogue, a community of thinkers, and a community of learning. Undoubtedly, discussions on the forum added a significant aspect to the bridge between the old and the new, and it contributed to the departure of the cave prisoners and the formation of future educators.
Yonit Nissim and Iris Pinto, Ohalo Academic College of Education, Sciences and Sport, Katzrin, , Israel
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 1-13, May 2015